Benefits and Casualties
by BerLina
Summary: Future Fic. Alexis is getting married. Family bonding and hijinks ensue. Healthy side order of Caskett goodness. My entry for the Jameson Rook Challenge. Enjoy!
1. Secrets

**A/N:** _This is my entry for the Jameson Rook Challenge. When I first received my prompt (no, I won't tell you yet!), I had no idea how to deal with it. Then, fic happened. I warn you, this is sappy. Maybe it will make you feel better if you still have the post-finale blues. I hope you enjoy! :D_

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><p>He had never felt so lost his entire life. He was a writer, for god's sake, but now he was out of words. She was going to get married. His little girl would get married today and he wanted to cry and jump and scream and sigh all at once. He did the latter, because it took up less energy than his other options.<br>He would cry later. Whether out of joy or pain, he wasn't sure. The combination of the two would surely do him in.

He sensed a motion next to him and felt his wife's hand on his shoulder only a second later.  
>"Stop thinking so loud, Rick" she told him. "I can almost see the steam coming out of your ears."<br>He sighed once more as he turned to face her. The sound died half way on his parted lips the moment he laid eyes on her. She had changed into her dress while he had tried not to stand in the way of the buzzing electricians as they put up the lights in the big dance hall. He had pretended to help them at first, but in reality he was entirely useless right now.

What was left of his brain capacity melted away at the sight of Kate's long, silky green dress. He had seen it before of course, but only in a garment bag and never on her luscious body. The low cut back revealed her soft, beautiful skin as she turned in a slow circle in front of him. The skirt was so long that its hemline swept the floor and he could only catch glimpses of her high silver heels. One hand rested flirtatiously on her hip, the other held a metallic clutch. Her face was glowing with love and joy. She had her long hair artfully pulled up, highlighted with glimmering pins to emphasize the sharp, beautiful lines of her cheekbones and the long exposed curve of her neck.

"Uhh...you…" he stammered when she had completed her little fashion show and he found her teasing gaze behind her long, thick lashes. Even after almost 8 years of marriage, she still had him wrapped around her little finger.

She was just about to lean up to kiss the astonishment off his face when a small hand tugged on the fabric of her skirt.  
>Kate smiled and looked at the six year old that was hiding behind the mass of brown hair that fell in pretty waves around her face.<p>

"What are you doing here, Jo?" she asked and her daughter looked up at her with her father's pleading blue eyes.  
>"Lexi says she needs you, Momma" little Johanna answered and tugged at her mother's dress again for good measure. Kate brushed the girl's hair out of her face and nodded her head. Turning back to Rick, she gave him a quick peck on the lips before sympathetically patting his cheek.<p>

Then she was gone again, just as quickly as she had appeared.

Johanna was left staring at her dad. "You look sad, daddy" she told him. He held his hand out for her and she stepped into his embrace.  
>"Promise me you won't get married" he whispered down at her.<br>"Ever?" Jo questioned and pulled slightly away from him. Rick smiled a sad and melancholic smile.  
>"Not in the near future" he sighed.<p>

Jo giggled into his embrace. "I'm not old enough to get married yet, daddy" she scolded and her voice sounded so much like Kate's that he had to grip her closer.  
>"I know, sweetie. But trust me, time passes faster than you can blink."<p>

Jo looked up at him and purposefully squeezed her eyes shut. She opened them again. "See, I blinked! I'm still not old enough to marry, dad!"  
>He laughed heartily. "Oh Jo, you are too smart for your own good" he mused and picked up her giggling form. "Let's go help your big sister, won't we?"<p>

Jo vehemently shook her head, the long brown curls flinging around joyfully and brushing his cheek.  
>"No?" Rick wanted to know. Jo shook her head again.<p>

"Lexi said you're no good today" she told him and he could swear that her forehead crinkled exactly the same way Kate's always did.  
>"Alexis said that? My daughter?" he asked, playfully emphasizing the 'my' to make his point. Jo nodded.<p>

"She said something else, too, but it's a secret." Her blue eyes were shining so brightly that he could see his own reflection smiling back at him.  
>"Will you tell me what it is?" he asked and she snuggled closer to his chest.<br>"It's a secret, daddy!" she fake-whispered and Rick knew right there and then that if he ever had another child, it would have to be a boy or he'd be eternally screwed.

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><p><strong>AN:** _See? Sappy, I told you! How'd you like it? Do you want me to continue?_

_If you want to take part in the challenge, just send Jameson Rook (.net/u/2885474/) a PM saying:_

_**1) **What pairings you can write about/would like to write about._  
><em><strong>2)<strong> The rating (K-M) you would be comfortable writing at, and_  
><em><strong>3)<strong> What genre you would like the song to apply to._

_It's really a lot of fun and a great way to challenge yourself and broaden your horizons as an author!_  
><em>Have a great week everyone!<em>  
><em>Lina<em>


	2. Memories

**A/N:** _This is unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine. The song is not mine, it belongs to Chuck Wicks. I wouldn't have chosen it normally but it was given to me as a prompt and I had to work with it. I hope it turned out alright. There will be more chapters (hopefully better ones). I'm taking all your suggestions into consideration :D_  
><em>Enjoy!<em>

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><p>Rick let Johanna run off to find her Grandpa Jim and then went to see his other daughter. He found the room designated for the bride, but before he could pluck up the courage to knock, he caught a glimpse of red and hot pink satin down the hallway.<p>

"Mother!" he called out and the flurry of colors came to a halt. His mother sashayed towards him and as she came closer, he could make out the animal print details of her fancy dress and the rubies that accentuated her neck and ears.

"You are breathtakingly stunning, mother!" he told her with a wink and she raised her elegant eyebrows at him in acceptance. Her gaze slid down his black tux, approved of the silver cufflinks and lingered on the green pocket square.

"If it weren't for that sad look on your face, you'd clean up nicely, son. Is something wrong, Richard?" He was never good at hiding things from her.

He sighed for what he was sure wouldn't be the last time today.

"This is even worse than when she moved out."

Martha's body shifted as she prepared herself for the worried whining that would surely follow. He didn't disappoint.

"I mean, now I'm never going to see her again! She's grown and I know that but it's so hard and without her things are different and what if they decide to move to Hawaii or Nigeria or who knows where they could end up and then they'll have kids and won't tell me and I'll never know that I have grandchildren somewhere in this world and…"

"Rick! Would you please stop it!" she interrupted him when he stopped making sense even to her. "Can't you just for one day be happy that your daughter is living her dream, marrying the man she loves? This is supposed to be the best day of her life! Please, you can whine all you want tomorrow when it's all over and they're on their way to their honeymoon. Just don't make this harder for her than I'm sure it already is."

He pouted. "You think so?"

"Of course, honey" Martha said and patted his chest. "She loves you, Richard. She's not kicking you out of her life. She's just getting married."

"But doesn't that…"

"No, Rick!" she interrupted him once more and he guiltily shut his mouth.  
>"In fact, this will pretty much change nothing at all! They have already been living together for a long time, almost four years now. The marriage is basically just a legal confirmation of what has already been established since college" she finished. Rick's forehead was still creased, but she knew that he at least tried to believe her.<p>

"Go in and talk to her" she said softly and nudged his shoulder.

"Thank you" he whispered, but she simply smiled at him, turned around and disappeared in the direction she had come from, a youthful sway to her hips.

Rick took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in" Alexis' voice sounded through the thick wooden door.

She was standing in front of a full length mirror, nervously putting the last touches to her already perfect hair.

"Hey Pumpkin" Rick greeted softly and quietly closed the door behind him.

"Hey" his daughter answered and threw him a small smile in the mirror.

"Are you alone?" Rick asked and walked closer, careful not to step on the long sash of the beautiful white dress that hugged her curves and then fanned out at her hips.

"I kicked Grams out because she was driving me crazy. Paige and Kate are getting ready in the next room" his daughter answered without turning around, her brows furrowed in concentration as she struggled with a pin. The wedding dress left her shoulders mostly bare and he touched a warm hand to her skin. She stopped what she was doing and finally turned around to him, eyes wide with excitement and nervousness.

"You look like a princess" he whispered and she threw her arms around him, not caring if it ruffled her outfit.

...

_Playing Cinderella_

_She was riding her first bike_

_Bouncing on the bed_

_And looking for a pillow fight_

_...  
><em>

_Running through the sprinkler_

_With a big popsicle grin_

_Dancing with her dad_

_Looking up at him_

_...  
><em>

"I love you, dad" she whispered into his pressed shirt and he hugged her closer.

"I love you, too." He sighed. "But I guess I'm not the only man in your life anymore."

She slightly pulled away and looked up at him. "You'll always be the most important, dad. I loved you first."

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "I remember the first time you told me that. You were two and a half and had cheese in your hair and I'm pretty sure you just said it to stop me from getting mad, but in that moment you made me the happiest man alive."

"Oh, dad" Alexis sighed, her eyes sparkling with emotions. "That's sweet." She ran her hand through the greying hair at his temple. "I'm not two anymore."

"I know, sweetie, and it kills me to think of the times when we had popcorn fights that lasted so long that we had to rewind the entire movie…" She laughed at that. "…and know that those times are over" he finished and swallowed thickly.  
>Their mouths were smiling but their eyes were serious.<p>

"I'm going to miss the sound of your screechy violin when you're out of practice; I'm going to miss cutting chewing gum out of your hair and even cleaning the mess in the kitchen after a flour war that nobody could ever win. I know you've been gone for a while now, but somehow getting married makes it all…more real"

Alexis hugged him more tightly.

"Dad, just because I'm getting married doesn't mean I'll change. Maybe I won't get gum in my hair anymore, but I'll still play laser tag with you."

His eyes lit up a little. "Really?"

She nodded. "Besides, you've got Jo to keep you entertained when I'm not there."

They both visibly relaxed. Then Alexis chuckled. "And Kate can kick some serious laser tag butt!"

Rick grinned and this time it reached his eyes as well. "Don't tell her I said this, but I think you're right."


	3. Legacies

**A/N**_: Johann Schiller wrote "It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons." In this case, it's mothers and daughters._

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><p>A knock on the door interrupted Alexis and Rick's moment of reminiscence. Jim poked his head through the opening and below him, Jo's mess of hair appeared.<br>"Hello Alexis" he greeted her. The lines around his eyes deepened as he smiled. "You look magnificent!"

Jo slipped from his grasp and ran towards her sister.  
>"Grandpa's right, Lexi!" she said, her eyes bright and awake. "Can I have the dress when you're done? Daddy says I can't get married yet, but time passes faster than you can blink…"<p>

Both Jim and Alexis laughed. Rick sighed in defeat. Jim turned towards him.  
>"Can I talk to you for a second? There appears to be a problem with the music…" he started as Alexis tried to explain to Jo why she couldn't have the dress yet. Rick made eye contact with his older daughter and she signaled with a small nod of her head that he could go and she would take care of her sister. He mouthed a 'thank you' across the room and ushered his father-in-law through the door. "A problem, you say…?"<p>

When the door closed behind the men, Jo stepped back from Alexis and twirled around the room, examining every inch of it with her alert eyes.  
>"What's that?" she asked and pointed to a piece of blue fabric on the table by the mirror. Alexis walked over and held it up between her fingers.<p>

"It's a garter. It goes around your leg like this." She held it to her thigh.

"What is it for?" Jo asked and Alexis frowned.

"Basically…nothing" she admitted. If you really thought about it, it wasn't worn out of purpose but rather out of tradition. "You throw it into the crowd after the wedding, just like the bouquet. The single boys try to catch the garter and the single girls try to catch the flowers."

Jo was unfazed.

"Why would you do that?"

Alexis sighed. That girl had questions…

"It's supposed to bring you luck."

Jo raised her brow and looked at her sister with an exact copy of Kate's expression of 'Uh-huh, if you say so'.

Alexis was just going to elaborate on the origins of wedding traditions when the door opened and the rest of the family's females came rushing in.

"Darling, we have to hurry, the ceremony will start in 30 minutes" Martha urged and only then acknowledged Jo's presence. "Hey there, kiddo" she greeted, her face immediately brighter, all signs of precipitance gone in the blink of an eye.

"Grams!" Jo squealed and almost tripped over her own feet in the haste of reaching her grandmother.  
>"You look like a dead leopard!" she exclaimed joyfully, completely oblivious to the concerned gaze her mother shot her from the side. Martha took it as a compliment and pulled the girl into her arms.<p>

"Are you having fun?" she asked and Jo nodded fervently and then turned in Martha's grasp to point at the garter.

"Lexi says you putitaroundyourleg and throwitaway and the boys havetocatchit. Cannihavun?" she blurted and then opened her eyes wide in anticipation. Martha looked from Jo to Alexis, back to Jo and then settled on Alexis.

"What did her father feed her this morning?"

Alexis shrugged her shoulders and tried to look innocent, which didn't work very well even though she was dressed in beaming white. "I was just telling her about wedding traditions."

Kate provocatively cleared her throat and opened her mouth for the first time since they had entered the room. "That reminds me…we brought you something."

Alexis looked at the woman she had come so close to in the last ten years that she considered her a mother. Her expression shifted from amusement to pure love. They simply looked at each other, unheard words passing between them as their adoration seemed to visibly fill the air and make it flutter and glow like the summer wind outside the window.

Martha took the small second of silence as her cue to dramatically produce a small item from her lurid purse. It was a silver jewelry box, time-worn but still shining.

"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue and a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe" she chanted and winked at Jo, who watched with prying eyes.

Alexis slowly stepped closer, her hands twitching to open the box, but instead hanging loosely at her sides. Her grandmother reached out and took her left one into her right.

"This is something old" she told her and placed the box in Alexis' smaller hand, squeezing it gently before letting go.

Everyone in the room held their breath as Alexis opened the box with a quiet click. "Oh grams…" she sighed when her gaze fell to the silver bracelet with the two heart-shaped diamonds in the center. "You didn't have to…"

"Nonsense, Alexis" Martha shrugged it off. "It has been in this family for over 80 years now. Now it's your turn."

Jo peeked into the box. "It looks pretty" she decided and Alexis smiled.  
>"Yeah, it does. Can you help me put it on?"<p>

Jo nodded and swiped her hands on the skirt of her dress. With careful movements, she took the jewelry out of the box, tested its weight in her hand and held it close to her face to gaze in astonishment at the delicate diamonds.

"Is this for good luck, too?" she asked as she fastened the bracelet around Alexis' wrist.

"Yes, for good luck and a happy and long marriage" her mother answered. "You have to wear something new - that's her dress - and something old - that's the bracelet."

Jo giggled. "So when I get married and wear Lexi's dress, the dress is something old and I have to find something else that is new?"

Kate tried to mask her surprise, but didn't quite succeed. Her poker face didn't work on her daughter.

"What?" Jo asked and Kate looked helplessly at Alexis.  
>"Did you put her up to this?"<br>Alexis shook her head. "I think it was Dad."

Martha made a dismissive motion that incorporated her entire upper body. "Anyway, let's not waste time. You also have to wear something blue, so here is the garter, my lady…" She bowed gracefully and grabbed the blue lace garter from the table and handed it to Alexis.

"Following the old Victorian tradition, you should also wear a sixpence in your shoe" she declared, looking around for her purse. She found it and pulled a coin from its pocket.  
>"It's an original sixpence" she said proudly with a nod at Jo. Then she smirked and put her hand to her mouth. "I bought it on Ebay!" she fake-whispered.<p>

After the coin had been safely tucked into the left shoe and the garter was in place on her thigh, Alexis looked up at Martha again, curious as to what would be the borrowed item. She had asked before of course, but had never gotten an honest answer. Her grandmother unexpectedly hugged her.

"I'm so proud of you, kiddo. You're a grown woman now" she whispered into her ear. "Be happy!" she told her and pulled back, waiting until their eyes met. "Be happy, my love" she repeated, squeezed her shoulders and stepped back.

Alexis didn't know what to make of it. Her expression was torn between surprised, confused, emotional and thankful. Martha smiled softly and nodded her head towards Kate. Alexis' gaze shot over to her, her body turned.

"Something borrowed…" Kate whispered and walked closer until she came to a stop right in front of her. She took Alexis' hands into her own. "I love you, Alexis, as if you were my own" she told her honestly and tears dwelled in the younger woman's eyes. She had known why she had chosen waterproof mascara this morning.

"You're family" Kate went on and released Alexis' hands. Her own went up to her ears. "When I married your dad, you gave me these" she said and touched her fingertips to the earrings she was wearing. "Let me do something for you in return" she said and her hands went to her neck until they found the thin chain.

She lifted it up around her head and Alexis began to tremble. "No, Kate, I couldn't…"

Their eyes locked and Kate used her exercised 'Don't argue!' stare. She lifted Alexis' hand and let the necklace drop into her palm.

Jo's quiet muttering of "That's grandmother's ring!" wasn't enough to break the spell the two women seemed to be under. Another silent conversation was going on, their emotional turmoil clearly portrayed in their faces, not needing to be masked for these immediate surroundings. Kate broke the silence first, her voice shaky.

"I want you to wear this today. It would mean a lot to me."

The tears that had been waiting on the brink of her lashes spilled down the younger woman's face.  
>"It would mean a lot to me, too."<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** _I've never written a story as cheesy and stereotypical as this one. Apologies to all who are offended by that. I can't even look at myself right now. Unfortunately I cannot be sued should you get cavities or a sugar rush from this fic.  
>Review? It would mean a lot to me. They turn bad days into great days and good days into days compareable to wedding days. Not that I would know, cause I'm not married. Yet.<em>


	4. Tears

He was starting to get giddy. His palms were sweaty, his knees trembling, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He didn't remember feeling like this when he had married Kate. Actually, he didn't remember much at all about the minutes before she had walked down the aisle towards him.

He _had_ been half-comatose with feeling, his mind almost blank, but somehow calm. He had known that all was going to be well. He had known, when her beaming smile and her shining eyes had met his, he had known. He had known - deep inside, mind and heart - that this was "it".

Now, as he was waiting for Alexis to round the corner so that he could wrap his arms around his little girl for one last time and lead her down the carpet towards her future husband, his nerves were getting the better of him. He swiped the back of his hand across his forehead.

"I mean, just yesterday she graduated from high school-"

"Rick, she's had her college degree for 3 years now. She's 26, she's marrying the love of her life. Get over it!" Lanie shut him up unceremoniously. She was standing next to him, waiting for Kate so that they could take their place in the front row.

Lanie was a wedding maniac. She was a master of organization and after successfully making Kate's and Rick's wedding seven years ago the event of a lifetime, she had been "hired" by many friends and colleagues to work her magic for them. Since Alexis hadn't wanted to hire a "real" wedding planner, mostly because she thought it was snobbish and unnecessary, Lanie, Kate, Alexis' best friend Paige and the bride herself had done all of the organizing that came along with the horror and wonder that was a wedding.

The result was astounding. The room that had been chosen for the ceremony was an hour away from downtown New York, which was to their convenience. It was a lot closer than the Florida Keys, the groom's first choice, but still far away enough from the lingering mess of paparazzi that all Castles had to constantly put up with.

It was marvelous. High marble walls, large open windows, a paradise garden just outside – it almost felt as if they were outdoors. Flowers everywhere, between the chairs, on the small stage, hanging from glimmering chandeliers. All kinds of colors, just like the wedding assembly, a rotating, whispering mass of people of all ages and origins. A cream white carpet down the entire length of one hundred feet, from the delicate glass door to the mesmerizingly decorated stage.

On that stage, the groom stood next to the judge, anxiety clear to see even from the distance, his fingers tapping on his thigh, his expression torn somewhere between overwhelming fear and overflowing joy. Rick studied him, took him in with a writer's concentrated eyes, partly out of curiosity, partly to distract himself from his own feelings, the ones that threatened to take him under.

He remembered the day the boy – he was only a boy, really, compared to himself anyway – had come into the loft to ask for his daughter's hand. He had been pleasantly surprised, pleased by the boy's manners, even though he knew him well by then and shouldn't have expected anything else. It had been a bittersweet moment, though. In a small piece of his heart, the part that had picked Alexis up after she'd fallen from her first bicycle, it had felt as if he was stealing her from him.

...

In her eyes I'm Prince Charming

But to him I'm just some fella

Riding in and stealing Cinderella

...

When Rick saw the man's – because really, honestly, he wasn't a boy anymore - face light up and tears that he didn't attempt to hide dwell to his eyes, he knew that Alexis had walked in.

He turned around and just like he had suspected, there she was. His little girl, all grown up.

She looked beautiful. Her hair partly done up, partly down, curling around her bare shoulders. Her eyes sparkling with an intensity that brought tears to his own eyes. He swiped his sweaty hands on his expensive pants and then offered her his arm. She wrapped hers around it and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"Hi, dad" she whispered. A tear slipped down his cheek.

"Hi, pumpkin."

She brought her tiny hand to his face to swipe away the tear.

And then they were suddenly at the stage with the altar and she was unwrapping her arm from his and taking the hand of the other man in her life. For a moment, it seemed as if he didn't exist for her anymore, but then Alexis turned her head towards him, let go of the man she was going to marry in a couple of minutes and threw her arms around her dad. Her makeup left smudgy traces on his dress shirt as she hugged him tightly.

Then she let go again and as quickly as she had thrown herself at him, she was back at the other man's side, giving him a last watery smile over her shoulder before turning towards the judge, her hand clasped tightly in her groom's.

Next thing he knew, he was sitting next to his wife in the front row and his mother was sniffing into his shoulder.

"You're crying. Why are you crying?" he asked dumbly, his brain somehow short-circuited from everything that was going on.  
>"Because she's getting married, you big oaf! Because she's getting married and it's perfect and...I…I'm so happy but I don't want to see her go" Martha sobbed, even more dramatic when she was emotional.<p>

"You...you were the one who told me to lighten up and now you're crying? You're pathetic!" Rick told her, but his own eyes were wet and as he looked at his side to his wife, she was holding a torn tissue to her face. Her red-rimmed eyes still managed to glare at him.  
>"Shut up, Castle. Just...just shut up."<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** _I have the feeling that my chapters get more fluffy and teary by the minute. I'm honestly sorry for that. I wasn't going to write this today, but I'll be out of the country for a week and I didn't want to leave you hanging for that long._

_The song is still Chuck Wicks' "Stealing Cinderella" and it still doesn't belong to me. I don't even want it to belong to me. If it weren't for this Challenge thingy, I wouldn't even know the song._

_And no, I'm not telling you who the groom is. Not because it's some huge surprise or anything, but because I feel as if it's not important for this story. My prompt actually said that it's supposed to be Ashley, but I think it's highly unlikely that their relationship is going to last this long. Well, I guess if you're a hopeless romantic, this can still be Ashley. So to please everyone, I will say no name and you can just imagine the guy to be whoever you want to. That alright with you?_


	5. Changes

_**A/N:**__ "Enjoy when you can and endure when you must." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

* * *

><p>David still couldn't believe that his best friend was now married. As he wandered from the bathroom back towards the big hall, he was so lost in his reverie of old college times that he almost ran into the little girl that suddenly appeared in front of him. With big, surprised eyes she looked up at him, her head angled to one side as if she was trying to assess him. Somehow she looked familiar.<p>

"Hi! Sorry, I didn't see you" he apologized and smiled, his green eyes sparkling. "Who are you, little one?" he asked, trying to put on his 'I'm not going to harm you, you look totally adorable'-face.  
>"My name's Johanna Elizabeth Castle" she told him confidently. Ah, now he remembered her; she was Alexis' younger sister. He couldn't believe how much she had grown since he had last seen her.<p>

"And who are you?" the girl asked, her little eyebrows rising suspiciously. His grin spread wider. That girl knew no insecurities.  
>"I'm David. I'm a friend of the lucky man that just married your big sister. How old are you, Johanna Elizabeth Castle?" he asked and hooked his fingers through the belt loops of his dress pants.<br>"I turned six last week," she said proudly.

"And are you going to school yet, Miss Castle?" David wanted to know, rocking back on his heels, content and highly amused.  
>"Yes, I…"<br>"She's too smart for school" Rick suddenly interrupted, coming up behind his daughter in the hallway and ruffling her hair. "They want to put her in second grade because she gets so bored that she drives the teachers insane."

David could hear the pride in the older man's voice and saw it in the way his eyes lit up.  
>"Did she get that from her father or her mother?" he asked, trying to figure out whether Richard Castle remembered him or not.<br>"The driving insane part, or the smart part?" Rick chuckled. "I'd say it's fifty-fifty."

He turned around when he heard heels clicking behind him, just in time to watch Kate roll her eyes.

"Meaning the smart part is all my doing and the driving insane part is one hundred percent his fault" his wife told David and slid her arms around his waist.

"Did you hear that?" Rick mocked and held a cupped hand to his ear. "I think I just heard something, but it might have just been a fly or something..."

Both female Castles rolled their eyes again.

"Come on, you have to admit that this time it was your doing" Kate insisted.

She turned towards their acquaintance and at his raised eyebrow elaborated: "He taught her how to read and write when she was three and a half, so it's no wonder she gets bored."

David smiled. "Oh I'm sure he could have done worse."

Kate flinched and narrowed her eyes to slits. "I don't even want to think about it…"

"David, right?" Rick asked and the young man nodded. Apparently, he did remember him. "Why don't we go back inside? The hallway is no place to celebrate a night like this."

David nodded his head and held his hand out to the littlest Castle. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Johanna Elizabeth Castle."

Jo gracefully took the hand, but watched him curiously with her bright eyes as she shook it.

"What are you doing out here, anyway?" Kate wanted to know, turning in her husband's arms. He dropped a kiss to her forehead.

"I was looking for our little runaway. But now that I've found her, let's go and start this party!"

* * *

><p>He started it with a dance. Of course, it was tradition that way. The father was allowed to dance with his newlywed daughter.<p>

As Rick took Alexis' smaller hand in his, he had to choke back tears. Feeling the soft fabric of her dress and then her even softer skin beneath his other hand, he took a deep breath.

When she accidentally stepped on his foot because he had moved in the wrong direction, they had to laugh. Suddenly the tears were forgotten and huge smiles graced both their faces. Nothing had changed much.

"Yo, I thought they took dancin' classes before this!" Javier Esposito asked no one in particular, watching from the side of the dance floor. To his surprise, it was Jo who answered.

"They did, but dad is really nervous today. You can see it because he taps his finger on her back to stay in rhythm" she told him seriously, her gaze not leaving the swirling pair.

Javier tried to focus on Rick's hand. "Gurl, you should play poker…"  
>Jo shook her head and tore her eyes from her family to look up at the detective. "Dad showed me, but mom doesn't allow it. She says I'm too young."<p>

She pouted and Javier saw a glimpse of the 6-year old that she was. "Everyone always says I'm too young! I wish I could be a grown-up like you!" she protested and cutely crossed her arms. Javier couldn't help but reach out to pat the girl's head.

"You'll grow up soon enough, sweetie. Trust me."

They both turned back to the father and bride to watch Rick make place for the groom. His time with Alexis was up. He kissed the back of her hand and gently turned her over to her husband. Stepping away to make room for the couple, he was taken back to a day half a year ago.

…

I came to see her daddy

For a sit down man to man

It wasn't any secret

I'd be asking for her hand

...

I guess that's why he left me waiting

In the living room by myself

With at least a dozen pictures of her

Sitting on a shelf

...

Playing Cinderella

She was riding her first bike

Bouncing on the bed

And looking for a pillow fight

Running through the sprinkler

With a big Popsicle grin

Dancing with her dad

Looking up at him

...

In her eyes I'm Prince Charming

But to him I'm just some fella

Riding in and stealing Cinderella

…

It wasn't quite the same now, Rick pondered. Somehow the sadness over seeing his little girl grow up had made way to a sense of pride. He was happy that she had found happiness, he realized and a smile spread on his face again.

When he felt a hand tug on his tux, he looked down. The smile grew even bigger.

"May I have this dance, milady?" he asked and bowed jokingly. Johanna giggled.

"You may, milord" she said and curtsied. Her father took her hands into his and they gently swayed towards the middle of the dance floor.

Jo giggled again. "This is fun, dad!" she told him as he swirled her around. And it was.

* * *

><p>Two hours later Rick had found his way into his wife's arms once more. As he pulled her onto the dance floor, she asked what had made him stop being grumpy and start enjoying this night.<p>

He thought about it for a second and started talking when the music changed to a slow ballad.

"Things change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse and sometimes we don't know until later on" he told her and raised his arm to let her spin beneath it. "Sometimes even the best things come with casualties, a small price to pay for your happiness."

He pulled her close and rested his cheek on hers, his mouth right by her ear.

"And sometimes things that make you sad and miserable at first, turn out to have their benefits in the end" he whispered, his eyes on their intertwined fingers as he slightly pulled back.

"Like us?" she asked, whispering as well because the moment called for it, despite the rather loud music.

"Like love," he said and she squeezed his hand. "Like us."

"You've always had a way with words."

He swept his gaze from their joined hands and the glimmering wedding band on his wife's finger to her equally sparkling eyes. They fluttered closed just as their lips met. The kiss was short, but sweet, filling him with the glorious feeling of love that had prevailed the entire day.

"Will you marry me?" he asked as they parted. Her smile beamed brighter than the dance floor lights.

"I already did. I thought you'd remember such a thing" she joked. His thumb caressed the back of her hand as they continued to sway to the soft music as the song faded. Then they pushed even closer to each other when the band started a tango.

"Would you do it again?" he murmured against her ear as he guided her across the floor with perfect ease. The tango was the dance they both enjoyed the most. The passion and temper resembled so much of their relationship that every move came from within.

She was in the mood for teasing, so she waited a beat and dragged her nails across his chest as the cello player brought her instrument to musical heights. Appreciating and enjoying the music, Kate swirled around Rick, her dress hiked up around her bared thighs. She ensured that every man's glance was on her body before answering with an indecisive hum. "Hmmm, I don't know. Do you have time next Friday afternoon? I think I might be able to squeeze a wedding into my schedule then if you insist."

His response was a chuckle and then he surprised her by dipping her, catching her around her waist just as her hair brushed the floor. He slowly pulled her up again. "If I dragged you to a chapel next Friday, would you say yes?"

She distracted him for a second by wrapping a leg around his. Her fingertips ghosted up his arms, along his neck and into his hair, as his dug into her thighs. Their gazes locked.

"Let's find out."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _This is it for this story. As you may have noticed because it has been a while since I updated, I was kind of struggling with it. I think my sweetness saturation level has been reached and I hope that yours has been, too._

_Feel free to check out my other stuff, but don't expect everything to be as cheesy as it was in this fic. And please take a look at the rating before you start reading..._

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story or added it to their favorites or alerts. It really means a lot to me._


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